Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at Glendale Memorial Hospital Health Center

1420 S Central Ave, Glendale, CA · CommonSpirit Health · · NPI 1477610640

Source: hospital's published price file ↗ · Published Feb 28, 2026 · Ingested Sep 10, 2026

$2,576.38

Cash price

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Discounted cash price

What a hospital charges a self-pay patient who pays directly, without going through insurance — usually well below the gross charge.

Example: A CT scan has a $3,200 gross charge but an $850 discounted cash price. Ask for it by name when scheduling — hospitals don't always advertise it up front.

Full explanation →

What you pay up front if you don't use insurance.

$7,903.00

Gross charge

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Gross charge (chargemaster price)

The hospital's full, undiscounted list price — pulled from its internal "chargemaster" price list. Almost no one actually pays this.

Example: A chest X-ray has a gross charge of $1,450. The same hospital's discounted cash price for the same X-ray is $180 — the gross charge mostly anchors negotiations, not what patients pay.

Full explanation →

The hospital's undiscounted list price — almost no one pays this.

$266.80 with HCLA vs $6,322.40 with MultiPlan — same scan, same building. Share

Negotiated rates by payer
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Negotiated rate

The price a specific insurance plan agreed to pay the hospital for a service — it varies by insurer, and even by plan within the same insurer.

Example: The same knee MRI has a negotiated rate of $904 with one insurer's PPO plan and $1,509 with another's — identical hospital, identical scan.

Full explanation →

Payer
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Payer

The insurance company footing the bill — Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare, and so on.

Example: "Blue Cross Blue Shield" is the payer. Its negotiated rate for an MRI might be $904, while a different payer's negotiated rate for the same scan is $1,509.

Full explanation →
Plan
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Plan

The specific product an insurer sells — e.g. "Blue Cross PPO 500" — which sets your deductible, coinsurance and negotiated rates.

Example: Two people both insured by Aetna can owe very different amounts for the same MRI: $50 with an HMO plan's flat copay, or the full $1,200 toward a high-deductible PPO plan's unmet deductible.

Full explanation →
Negotiated rate vs. cash
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA > 21 $266.80 ↓ -90%
HCLA Medicaid|Preferred IPA < 21 $266.80 ↓ -90%
Health Net Medicaid|Preferred IPA $266.80 ↓ -90%
Health Net Medicare|All Plans $293.07 ↓ -89%
HCLA Medicare|Preferred IPA $307.13 ↓ -88%
Care 1st Medicare|All Other Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
DHR Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
US Behavioral Health Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
Humana Commercial|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
MHN Commercial|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
United Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
CareMore Medicare|All Plans $307.13 ↓ -88%
Health Net Medicaid|> 21 $327.10 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|< 21 $327.10 ↓ -87%
HPN Medicaid|> 21 $328.16 ↓ -87%
HPN Medicaid|< 21 $328.16 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|Alhambra < 21 $346.84 ↓ -87%
Health Net Medicaid|Alhambra > 21 $346.84 ↓ -87%
BCBS - Anthem Medicare|Alhambra Senior $353.20 ↓ -86%
Molina Medicaid|All Plans $373.52 ↓ -86%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|HCLA $383.91 ↓ -85%
Health Net Commercial|HCLA $383.91 ↓ -85%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Alhambra $383.91 ↓ -85%
LA Care Commercial|All Plans $383.91 ↓ -85%
HCLA Commercial|All Other Plans $383.91 ↓ -85%
HCLA Commercial|Preferred IPA $383.91 ↓ -85%
Kaiser Medicaid|< 21 $400.20 ↓ -84%
Kaiser Medicaid|> 21 $400.20 ↓ -84%
United Commercial|Navigate $517.79 ↓ -80%
United Commercial|Options PPO $517.79 ↓ -80%
United Commercial|HMO $517.79 ↓ -80%
United Commercial|PPO $517.79 ↓ -80%
Care 1st Medicare|BlueShield Promise $725.00 ↓ -72%
BCBS - Anthem Medicaid|All Plans $1,032.33 ↓ -60%
LA Care Medicaid|All Plans $1,128.56 ↓ -56%
Healthcare Partners Medicare|All Plans $1,184.00 ↓ -54%
Care 1st Medicaid|All Plans $1,334.00 ↓ -48%
Healthcare Partners Commercial|All Plans $1,342.00 ↓ -48%
Aetna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,414.37 ↓ -45%
Aetna Commercial|HMO $1,414.37 ↓ -45%
Aetna Commercial|PPO $1,414.37 ↓ -45%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|Non-MCS $1,497.00 ↓ -42%
Cigna Commercial|All Other Plans $1,922.00 ↓ -25%
Cigna Commercial|PPO $1,922.00 ↓ -25%
Health Net Medicaid|DHR $1,975.75 ↓ -23%
BCBS - Anthem Commercial|MCS $1,976.00 ↓ -23%
HPN Medicare|All Plans $3,635.38 ↑ +41%
Kaiser Commercial|All Plans $4,425.68 ↑ +72%
Blue Shield CA Commercial|Magellan $4,741.80 ↑ +84%
SCAN Medicare|All Plans $4,899.86 ↑ +90%
First Health Commercial|All Plans $5,136.95 ↑ +99%
MultiPlan Commercial|All Plans $6,322.40 ↑ +145%

Visitor-reported prices

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Lower Back (Lumbar Spine) MRI (without contrast) at other California hospitals

Hospital City Cash price Negotiated range
St. John's Camarillo Hospital Camarillo $3,285.00 $307.13 – $5,850.00
Banner Lassen Medical Center Susanville $2,448.08 $48.34 – $4,180.70
Petaluma Valley Hospital Petaluma $5,534.52 $321.54 – $2,866.28
Arroyo Grande Hospital Santa Maria $2,416.49 $266.80 – $4,191.46
Mark Twain Medical Center San Andreas $6,473.52 $266.80 – $2,461.76
French Hospital San Luis Obispo $1,936.48 $242.46 – $2,111.00
Mercy Hospitals – Bakersfield Bakersfield $1,702.52 $266.80 – $3,671.20
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield $1,684.17 $266.80 – $3,625.31

All California hospitals for this procedure →